Top 10 Funniest Modern TV Episodes

#10: “The Box” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (2013-)

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Despite having a terrific ensemble cast, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”’s funniest episode uses only a few of its usual suspects. Captain Holt cancels his opera plans to join Detective Jake Peralta in cracking a smug dentist being interrogated for a crime. The tighter focus on two characters leads to not only better drama, as the duo’s father/son relationship is at the forefront, but also greater laughs. Their opposite personalities and approaches amount to some of the characters’ funniest moments, like Jake’s guitar strategy or Holt’s rant about the integrity of the word ‘doctor.’ Overall, this episode is worth at least three “Oh damns!”

#9: “The Fight” “Parks and Recreation” (2009-15)

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Two words – Snake Juice. Sure, it’s basically rat poison, but Tom’s incredibly shady alcoholic beverage certainly fuels some great comedy. When Tom invites the rest of the parks department to attend the grand opening of a nightclub he co-owns, the results are incredibly hilarious. Practically all of them get completely smashed on Snake Juice, leading to drunken antics galore! From Ron’s dancing to April and Andy’s hilarious night pretending to be an heiress and an FBI agent, “The Fight” has plenty of comedy, even in the more serious tiff between besties Leslie and Ann.

Who knew the butterfly effect could be so funny? When Troy and Abed throw a housewarming party with the rest of their study group, the event takes a strange turn when a roll of the dice to decide who gets the pizza plays out across seven different timelines. Running gags across every timeline are just as funny as the different outcomes, such as Abed being the only one to acknowledge the possibility of different outcomes. Also, the fact that the episode gives us a dark timeline, complete with evil Spock goatees, is hilarious.

This episode may have come early in the show’s run, but it epitomizes the Bluth family and their outrageously bad parenting. Buster’s attempt to get pot for his girlfriend from George Michael leads the latter’s father to think he’s on drugs and attempt to scare him straight… using male strippers. Naturally, this goes about as well as you’d expect. Meanwhile, Maeby suffers through a day with her grandmother and we’re treated to some hilarious flashbacks of traumatic “life lessons” delivered by George Senior. Packed full of jokes and insights into the delightfully dysfunctional characters, this is “Arrested Development” at its peak.

#6: “Slap Bet” “How I Met Your Mother” (2005-14)

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The ultimate wager, and the ultimate episode of “How I Met Your Mother!” Robin’s dislike of malls leads to the rest of the gang to speculate on why. Although Barney is adamant that it’s because she was in porn, Marshall bets it isn’t in a slap bet, with the loser getting slapped in the face by the victor. Robin’s lies about the reason lead to back and forth slapping between the two and plenty of arguments between Robin and Ted about trust, but the final revelation of Robin’s career as a Canadian pop star is the icing on the cake. The Slap Bet and “Robin Sparkles” become running gags throughout the series and they’re so effective because this episode makes them so memorable.

#5: “The D.E.N.N.I.S. System” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (2005-)

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The gang at Patty’s Pub are all horrible people, but Dennis is a complete sociopath and one need look no further than his awful method for picking up women, named after himself. His friend’s attempts to devise their own systems (because they can’t get his to work for them) while Dennis attempts to reuse his method on a previous conquest. Both dovetail into a perfectly uproarious failure on everyone’s parts. The intertwining plots are supplemented by some truly hysterical dialogue spoken by all, though Frank has some especially great one-liners.

#4: “The Ski Lodge” “Frasier” (1993-2004)

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Given how long it was on, “Frasier” had plenty of funny episodes to choose from. And while it was tempting to choose “Ham Radio,” we ultimately went with this episode. The Cranes, along with Daphne, her friend, and a ski instructor take a trip to a ski lodge, which leads to a masterpiece of a farce. Thanks to plenty of misunderstandings, often due to Martin’s temporary deafness, everyone seems to think someone else is hot for them. Plenty of nighttime maneuvering ensues, which results in no one getting together and Frasier left exasperated at being no one’s object of affection.

This mockumentary delivered so much great cringe humor that we had trouble choosing just one. Although we have to tip our hats to the mega awkward “Scott’s Tots,” “Stress Relief” is just the show firing on all cylinders. Despite an emotional side story with Pam’s dad, the core of the story involves Michael trying to relieve stress at the office after Dwight’s utterly chaotic fire drill gives Stanley a heart attack. There are just so many funny scenes here, from the fire drill itself to the bizarre CPR lesson, to Michael’s roast, to his roast of his employees, “Stress Relief” is sure to melt your cares away and leave you laughing like Stanley.

#2: “The One Where Everybody Finds Out” “Friends” (1994-2004)

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As iconic as the trivia contest is in “The One with the Embryos,” we think the laughs are bigger in this episode. Ross getting a new apartment across from Monica’s apartment leads to Phoebe finding out that Chandler and Monica are dating. Eventually, Phoebe, Rachel, and Joey hatch a plan to make Chandler fess up to the relationship by having Phoebe seduce him. The back and forth as each realizes what the other is doing is hysterical, as is their eventual game of chicken to get the other to break. All in all, this episode is as funny as Ross is angry when he finds out! Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions: “Las Vegas” “Modern Family” (2009-) “She’s the One” “Everybody Loves Raymond” (1996-2005) “Cleveland” “30 Rock” (2006-13) “Palestinian Chicken” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (2000-) “Banks Shot” “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” (1990-96)

#1: “The Contest” “Seinfeld” (1989-98)

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“Seinfeld” has a huge number of memorable and iconic episodes. “The Soup Nazi,” anyone? But if we’re talking the funniest episode, and one of the funniest episodes on TV, it has to be “The Contest!” After George’s mother catches him in the act of enjoying his own company, the foursome makes a bet to see who can go the longest without… “losing mastery of their domain.” Watching them try and fail to resist several irresistible temptations they encounter is hilarious, and “The Contest” is simply amazing at how creative its innuendoes get. If we made a bet at how long we’d last watching this episode without laughing, we’d last about as long as Kramer does.